Trenton's Bad Grammar Candidates
by Dan Dodson
Say what you want about a candidate, but when they consistently use poor grammar
they make the people they represent look foolish.
The problem in Trenton with bad grammar candidates is so pervasive, I can't
imagine where to start. The insanity of sitting in an audience listening to
a college educated candidate promote education using "street English"
is almost unbearable. Unfortunately, in some races, particularly for North Ward
Council, we have no good alternatives.
I for one am more comfortable with a candidate who, through his command of
the English language, shows that he's intelligent, well read and a role model
for students. A poorly spoken candidate is one who likely didn't pay attention
in school and isn't disciplined in his thinking.
So far in the 2006 Trenton elections, I can report the following "grammar
observations" about our candidates.
| Milford Bethea |
N. Ward |
- Poor grammar
- Repeatedly used the noun "partnership" as a verb
- Subject and verb rarely agreed
|
| Dennis McKithen |
N. Ward |
- Poor grammar
- Problem keeping subject and verb in agreement
|
| Harry Luna |
S. Ward |
- Perfectly fine accented English
- A bit "street" in his tone but otherwise a pleasure to hear
|
| Jim Coston |
S. Ward |
- Perfect grammar
- The best educated candidate
- A Preacher, so clear speech is his trade
- Hopefully when he's elected we can send him to Washington to speak
for us
|
| John Ungrady |
S. Ward |
- Wow, Just as unintelligible as ever! Makes poor grammar and diction
worse by refusing to hold a microphone away from his mouth.
|
| Jim Carlucci |
At Large |
- Good grammar
- Jim has a touch of Trenton accent in him but I can't think of time
when his grammar was bad
|
| Manny Segura |
At Large |
- Almost unintelligible
- Manny's lived in Trenton for 30 years so you'd think basic English
would have come to him by now
- The Mayor put him on the School Board which is most amusing
- In the last election, published ungrammatical campaign literature
- Somebody needs to help him
|
| John Harmon |
Mayor |
- Good grammar
- John lets a little slang slip in to his speeches, but its probably
for effect and to let voters know he's one of them
|
| Tony Mack |
Mayor |
- Good grammar
- Tony can sometimes get a "Sunday sermon" riff going that
takes liberties with proper English but I suspect that's on purpose.
- No one accuses Jesse Jackson of bad grammar either
|
| Frank Weeden |
Mayor |
- Good grammar
- Sometimes muffles his words
- Sometimes talks in obtuse terms
|
| Doug Palmer |
Mayor |
- Good Grammar
- Like Harmon and Mack, slips into slang only for affect
- Speaks more clearly than any of the other mayoral candidates
|
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Dan Dodson is a management consultant and Leadership Trenton Fellow.
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Copyright 2006, Dan Dodson
